#gleipnir

When Loki gave birth to the wolf Fenrir, it was foretold that Fenrir would kill Odin one day in battle.

Although kept among the gods at Asgard, Fenrir was designated their enemy before he had even opened his eyes.  The gods sought to bind Fenrir in such a way that he could never escape, but if they failed, Fenrir would surely attack them for such actions.

As such, the gods bound Fenrir in fetters under the pretence that it was just a game.  Fenrir would be bound by the fetters, and he was to try to break free.  Fenrir agreed to the game, and was bound as tightly as the gods could manage.  However, much to their surprise, Fenrir broke free of his bonds.  The gods returned after that with increasingly stronger bonds, hoping to trap Fenrir, but each time Fenrir successfully broke free.

Finally, the gods sought the help of the dvergues, master craftsmen.  The dvergues did not disappoint, and created for them an unbreakable fetter called Gleipnir.  It was made of the beard of a woman, the breath of a fish, the sinew of a bear, the root of a mountain, the spittle of a bird, and the sound of a cat’s footfall.  All of these things, each one supposedly impossible, gave the fetter its indestructibility.

The gods approached Fenrir again, this time with Gleipnir, and asked to play the binding game with him once more.  Fenrir was wary about the ribbon-thin fetter they held.  The fetters had been increasing in size until now, but given the appearance of this one, it was surely strengthened by magic.  It was difficult to miss the gods’ hatred for him, and Fenrir suspected that the gods truly meant to bind him, despite the pretence of a game.

Fenrir agreed to play the game once more, but only on the condition that one of the gods stick his hand in Fenrir’s mouth.  He hoped the prospect of losing a hand would keep the gods from foul play.  The brave god of war, Tyr, volunteered to comply with Fenrir’s request.

So Fenrir was bound with the unbreakable fetter, with Tyr’s hand in his mouth.  Once Fenrir was bound, he struggled to break free, but found that he could not.  The gods had indeed tricked him, and they intended to keep him trapped there forever.  In anger at the trickery, Fenrir bit off Tyr’s hand.

But the gods had not averted Fenrir’s fate.  They had ensured it.  In binding Fenrir, they had made Fenrir their enemy.  When Fenrir broke free at the outset of Ragnarok, he was filled with anger at the gods who had kept him prisoner his entire life.  It had been foretold that Fenrir would kill Odin, and his treatment from the gods was what had driven him to it.

Loki is conspicuously absent on all occasions when the gods attempted to bind Fenrir.  Given that Loki plays a prominent role in most myths, and that he was the mother of Fenrir, his absence is somewhat strange.  It may have been that Loki was kept from the proceedings, so that he would not interfere for the sake of his son.

Furthermore, it was at this time that the gods began to mistrust Loki, and to see him as an enemy.  Loki had always been mischievous, but the gods had considered him an ally until this point.  It may have happened simply because of Loki’s relation to the killer of Odin, or perhaps because Loki had protested against Fenrir’s treatment, and they saw anyone who desired Fenrir’s freedom to be an enemy of Asgard.  A further possibility is that Loki was entirely guilty of becoming mistrustful, and an enemy of Asgard.  Perhaps, after seeing Asgard’s treatment of his son, who had done nothing, Loki could no longer feel loyalty to the Asgard that had once been his home.

New print available in our shop! Hand-pulled screenprint with extremely long lasting eco-friendly inks, available in a variety of colours.

This print is a collaboration with the extremely talented @dyrs_hjarta_art and inspired by the Binding of Fenrir myth: you can see the huge wolf Fenrir right in the centre of the artwork, entangled by the smooth and supple fetter called Gleipnir, and gagged by a sword after he devoured the god Tyr’s hand. On the top the mask of the Allfather, Odin, and the six materials the dwarves required to forge the fetter from Svartalfheim: the sound a cat makes when it moves, the beard of a woman, the roots of a mountain, the sinew of a bear, the breath of a fish, and the spittle of a bird. You can see the gloomy faces of two of those dwarves on both sides of the print. On the bottom, the gods are fastening Gleipnir to the boulder Gjoll and the rock Thviti.

You can read more about it directly on https://limbsdisarm.etsy.com

The print is available on t-shirt, backpatch and tote bag. DM if you have any question!